Heroes Of Spira
by trustnoevil
Summary: After a fierce battle with Ultimecia, Squall and his friends are thrown into the intricate web of Time Compression. Thousands of years pass before it begins to settle down, scattering them across the unfamiliar world of Spira...
1. Prologue

_AN: This was previously written under my old pen name Fayte (.net/~fayte) - I've decided to revise it again and continue writing it. I have up to chapter nine under Fayte, but I will be doing some heavy editing in order to make it read better this time around. Hopefully you'll enjoy this crossover fic._

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**Heroes of Spira  
****Prologue**

Commander Squall, his squad of SeeD's and his love Rinoa had finally found themselves face to face with the most otherworldly and demonic Sorceress known as Ultimecia. This would be their last stand; it was destroy or be destroyed. Their whole lives had led up to this one moment in time where the fate of the world rested in their hands. Destiny had bonded them together and brought them here with the sole purpose of ridding the world once and for all of the Sorceress Threat.

The battle was rough and it seemed to never end, almost as if everyone was stuck in a time-loop. Ultimecia's Time Compression spell was incredibly strong, so strong that it made our heroes think in the back of their minds that they would never win the final battle. Nevertheless they continued to fight not only for their own lives, but for the lives of the millions of inhabitants of the planet. If they lost this battle, millions more would die - a burden none of them would want to carry even after death.

The malevolent Sorceress had the upper hand as she junctioned herself unto Griever for the final phase of the battle. Her mind was skewered with memories of the past, present and future due to the Time Compression spell and it seemed as though she was lost within Griever; she was quite simply a vessel for her ultimate Guardian Force. With her scattered memories and Griever's undeniable power, Ultimecia had summoned the final blow to Squall and his friends: Apocalypse.

Their minds felt as though they were being ripped apart. Memories they had forgotten long ago due to the use of Guardian Forces flooded their heads in the most violent way, only to be forgotten once again in an instant. Remnants of solidarity and peace flashed through their minds as they tried to hold on to anything to keep them from dying completely. Their very last memory of their world would be that of Ultimecia destroying them - a memory one would hope was never true.

Thousands of years passed as Ultimecia reigned over the world. She instilled the greatest fear in all of those who dared to oppose her. Those who disobeyed her were stricken with instant death and wiped from existence completely. Not a trace of them would be left, not even in the memories of their loved ones. The Sorceress's Time Compression spell was strong enough to endure the thousands of years she stayed alive.

Eventually though, like all villains, she was defeated - not by the hand of an army though. The world was dead and barren with not a soul but her own inhabiting it. The desolation and despair eventually drove her into madness and she became gravely ill. Her Sorceress powers had been draining from her bit by bit over the many years, and without the strength or will to go on in such an isolated world, she left herself in Hyne's hands as she breathed her last breath.

Years after her passing, the spell of Time Compression began to thin out. Soon a new world was reborn from remnants escaping from the spell. A great new world they called Spira was born and cities of great machines sprung up all around the globe. A war was inevitable, as we all know history repeats itself, and two of the greatest cities waged war against each other. Zanarkand, the city of machines, was destroyed completely. Ever since that day, every ten years a powerful monstrosity called Sin would wreak havoc on the world to remind the people of the Machina War. Only a qualified Summoner possessing the Aeons, skills and knowledge could defeat Sin and bring the Calm.

One thousand years after the Machina War, a young woman would emerge from Besaid Temple's Chamber of the Fayth and speak the words, "I've done it. I have become a Summoner!"


	2. The Beginning

**Heroes of Spira**

**Chapter One: The Beginning**

As the early morning sun slowly ascended in the sky, a young man stretched out and yawned; his back was leaning against a tall tree as speckles of morning rays shone through the forest surrounding him. Slowly he opened his eyes to find himself on unfamiliar turf. Not remembering what had happened to him, he looked around in a panic, wondering where in the world he could be, and just how did he get there? After sitting for a moment, puzzling over what was going on, he stood up and adjusted his hat.

A few feet from where he stood was Exeter, rusted and dismal looking. A part of him flinched as a memory exploded in his head, _this is… my gun, this is my gun, this is Exeter and…_ His heart wrenched at the memory; his faithful gun he wielded throughout many battles, to defend himself and others, had been destroyed. Slowly he picked up the remnants of his precious gun, all the while memories from the past flooded his head. The loss of this item though, didn't seem to be the worst of the memories. He could feel a tugging nightmare in his mind, escaping his thoughts just as fast as the thought occurred.

His memory was building, slowly, names started pulling his heartstrings. He knew, he remembered their names, he remembered their faces. Several times he called the names of his friends, yet there was no answer; only the birds could be heard, and the occasional wild animal running through the forest. He began to wander aimlessly, almost hopelessly, hoping he had not lost himself in an endless sea of forest. After wandering aimlessly for what seemed an eternity, he suddenly found himself at the foot of a large stairway made of stone. _It can only go up from here, right?_ He thought to himself as he began to climb the flight of stairs.

It was getting hotter as the afternoon carried on, and the stairs seemingly continued forever into the azure sky. At one point, he had to stop to catch his breath. _I'm beginning to regret not going down the stairs…_ But a part of him was pulling him toward the top. There was a reason, he felt in him, that going up was the only way to go forward from the daze he had awoken from.

A few moments passed before he heard the familiar sounds of a battle taking place not too far from where he sat. Swiftly, yet cautiously, he continued up the stone stairs and found himself staring at group of people battling a large creature. Being an Ace Marksman, he instinctively pulled Exeter from his holster. His ego took a dive as he realized that he had nothing to battle with. Without hesitation he was willing to take a chance - maybe, just maybe Exeter had it in her to still take a shot. Aiming carefully from the side of the creature, he pulled the trigger as he exhaled. An incredible blast echoed the surrounding stone platform. The kick-back from the gun and the exertion of the blast caused him to injure his shoulder.

The group of people who were battling the large creature flinched at the sound of the blast, but continued on to defeat the creature. As the remnants of the creature fragmented into the air, everyone on the stone platform turned around to where the blast had come from. A blonde man with short hair was the first to arrive in front of the cowboy, who in his daze, suddenly questioned, "Zell?" The young blond man held his hand out to offer the cowboy to help him up to his feet. After a moment of clearing his head, he readjusted his hat and took a closer look at the blonde boy.

"Hey, are you okay?" their hands both clasped together and both were soon standing face to face.

"Zell?" he questioned again, brushing his wounded shoulder.

"What? Zell? Who's Zell? My name's Tidus…" his blue eyes looked beyond the man he helped get up and saw a very rusted and broken weapon. He turned his attention back to this man in his hat and questioned back. "Who are you?"

A brief moment passed as he exhaled a sigh of despair, "The name's Irvine, Irvine Kinneas." He turned around to see Exeter in even worse condition than before. He rubbed his shoulder and rotated it to feel the damage that he'd done.

"Are you okay?" Tidus asked, seeing the disappointment in Irvine's eyes.

"I… I'll be fine, I just…" he turned around and picked up his precious weapon again, pieces scattered on the ground. _I'm sorry girl._ He put what was left of the gun into his holster, knowing that it was completely unusable and possibly beyond repair. Irvine inhaled deeply and exhaled, breaking beyond the emotions attached to the gun. A smile crept across his face as he started to put the pieces of his ego back together.

"Thank you for trying to help us," one of the two young women thanked Irvine. "My name is Yuna," she introduced herself, "and this is Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri, and you already know Tidus. I hope you aren't hurt too badly." Irvine nodded to each of them as Yuna said each of their names. Curiously, he took a second look at each of them. _Heh… cleavage… _Irvine thought to himself. _His hair almost resembles Zell's in a way… And what race is _that_ guy? I don't think I've ever seen anyone or anything like him before… And that other guy almost resembles Zell in a strange way as well… _They all stood there, taking in each others company. An awkward moment lingered between the group and Irvine.

Irvine didn't recognize any of them, and a question brewed up inside of him. He couldn't keep quiet any longer and he had to know, "Where exactly are we? I don't think I've ever been here before." He knew the question may have sounded odd to them, but he couldn't seem to remember anything that had happened to him. Beyond waking up in a strange forest, his head was only filled with names, faces, and very fragmented distant intangible memories.

"You're in Kilika," Lulu answered as she shook her head, a slight sigh escaped as she answered. The name didn't sound at all familiar to Irvine. He thought for a moment, trying to remember this place, but he knew he had never been here before; he suddenly felt very lost and foreign.

Trying to dig deeper into his memories, breaking past the names and faces, the memory of Time Compression came back to him like a tidal wave. Only the last moments before the darkness played in his head - feeling immeasurable pain and agony before the darkness took over. A voice, an eerie and malevolent voice, echoed in his head: _Kompression of Time… You kannot eskape it…_

_Is this a dream? What the hell is happening? What the hell _happened_? Time Compression… Did we really lose that battle? _Irvine sank his shoulders and looked down, with a tight grip on his hat. He didn't want to think of such a thing. He could never believe he had failed to save the world. But how is his _existence_ possible? Could the Time Compression have suspended their existence? _This isn't happening. No way._

"Where is Balamb? Where can I find Esthar? Has the Sorceress been defeated?" Irvine asked tentatively, hoping for an answer he wanted to hear. The group standing before him all had confused looks on their faces.

Lulu covered her face and shook in disbelief. "Great, _another_ one from a different world." She sighed deeply, and Irvine could feel the tension building between them. The group was wide-eyed, particularly Tidus; he had a wanting look in his eyes, as if he had found something he had been searching for.

Wakka broke the silent tension and answered, "There's no 'Balamb' that I know of here in Spira… I can't make sense of what you're saying…" He had a look of worry on his face as he walked closer to Irvine and tapped him on the head. "You must have gotten too close to Sin's toxin, ya? What's the last thing you remember?"

Irvine thought again for a moment, conjuring up the strength to remember the string of painful memories. He knew now that Time Compression had happened, and that the spell is so great that it creates a rift in time. The past, the present, the future all intertwined and suspended within a spell where people, places, objects, everything could potentially be erased or replaced. Time Compression itself was a paradox. Irvine couldn't wrap his mind around the thought that he could potentially never see his friends again. Never.

Irvine decided to ask one more question, just to make absolute sure, "What happened to Sorceress Ultimecia?" If they didn't know the answer to this question, Irvine would know for sure he wasn't where he was supposed to be. Everyone just looked at him oddly for a few moments. Irvine frowned and knew by the looks on their faces that they had no clue as to what he was talking about.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I've ever heard of anything you just said," Yuna answered in dismay. She could tell the gunslinger was hoping for a different answer. "Perhaps you did get too close to Sin, and your memory is fogged up right now. The same thing happens to a lot of people when they get too close to Sin," Yuna looked at her friends, who had all turned their attention to Tidus.

"What you may think are real memories, might in fact be completely fictitious and made up in your mind, all due to Sin's toxin," Lulu added. "You must be as ill as this one over here," she tilted her head towards Tidus.

"_Sin_? What is _Sin_?" Irvine asked, feeling completely clueless and lost. Irvine's mind had flooded once again of everything terrible. He was confused beyond imagination; he knew he wasn't in the right place, and if he wasn't in the right place, his friends may not be either. They could be in a different world, existing in a different time or even another dimension. He felt helpless as he collapsed to the ground. _Selphie…_

"Are you okay?" Yuna asked worriedly. She could tell he wasn't sure of anything. A slight breeze blew by them for a moment. The afternoon sun was high in the sky and it was continuing to get hotter as the day progressed. A few seconds later, Irvine lifted his head.

"I'll be okay," Irvine answered assertively, but with a slight shake in his voice. He then lifted himself up from the ground and dusted the dirt on his coat and knees. Although his thoughts were abysmal, he felt there was still hope; if he ended up here, it could be possible that everyone ended up here as well. Not everything was too different from his world. Magic still exists, as do monsters… If he could be guided by this group of people, he just might end up finding his friends.

"Hey," Irvine piped up, "you think I can hang around you guys, 'cause I have some friends that might be around here somewhere. I'm completely at a loss here and you seem to know where you're going."

Yuna smiled and replied, "Yes, you can come with us. You can follow along until we find your friends." Irvine smiled back at her. He wasn't sure what to expect if he really was in another world, but surely being with a group of people would enhance his chances of finding his friends.

"Come on," Lulu spoke with a very serious look on her face, "we have a pilgrimage to be on, we mustn't waste our time over petty things." Her voice sounded slightly annoyed and stern. It didn't seem as though she approved of Irvine tagging along. Kimahri didn't say a word, but the expression on his face struck a hint of fear into Irvine.

"No worries, ya?" Wakka said as he patted Irvine on the back. "Let's get up this last set of steps!"

"Right," Yuna nodded. They began to climb the last set of stone stairs, finally reaching the top.

Before them stood a building, a temple of some sort. Irvine stopped to take in his surroundings, trying to conjure up any memories of this place. He took in every detail around him and still nothing stood out in his memory. Nothing around him even _felt_ familiar. The others continued walking toward the entrance to the temple.

Just as soon as Irvine caught up to this new group, another group of men, who were pretty much dressed in the same clothing style, came out of the temple. The red haired man began to talk to Wakka in a sarcastic tone. Then the men dressed like Wakka appeared and stood next to him with a burning sense of defence and aggression.

Irvine walked a little closer, curious to see what all the noise was about. He guessed that since they were wearing identical clothing, they must be on a team of some sort. Irvine happened to catch a bit of the conversation, "Who needs to pray? The Luca Goers always win." The red haired man seemed pretty amused as he laughed arrogantly.

Tidus suddenly jumped in and aggressively said something back to him, but Irvine couldn't make it out. Moments later, the Luca Goers left with arrogant smirks on their faces. As they walked by Irvine, one of them purposely bumped into his shoulder. He tried to hide the flinch of pain in the shoulder he had injured.

With ire, Irvine swung around to watch them walk down the stairs and managed to mutter a few curses. He then walked over to Wakka and asked, "What the hell was that all about?" Wakka wasn't at all thrilled to have run into one of their rival teams.

"Ah, those were the Luca Goers, ya?" Wakka replied. "They win every year, but this year, we're gunna win! Right boys? We have Tidus!" Wakka grinned and the guys on his team cheered. "They're gunna be sore Luca Losers when we're done with 'em, ya!" Wakka added with a smirk. "That Blitzball trophy is **ours** this year!" After a few moments of Wakka's team cheering, it was time to enter the temple.

Everywhere Irvine looked, people were praying to statues, which he found slightly odd. He also heard something unreal; a hymn of some sort, flowing in from what seemed to be everywhere and nowhere. There were no speakers in sight and no chorus of people singing it anywhere around the room in which he stood. Wakka kneeled down in front of a statue and began to pray, making a strange arm movement. Soon after, Tidus joined him and did the same thing, as if he had done it before. Irvine shrugged; he was unfamiliar with it but decided to join the two of them. He kneeled down next to Tidus and attempted the same hand movements. After a while, he had it figured out.

"So what exactly is this that we're doing?" Irvine questioned quietly. He wasn't too sure what was going on and curiosity got the best of him. Everything felt unfamiliar and surreal, almost mind-numbingly unbelievable.

"We're praying to Yevon," Wakka replied with faith. Irvine guessed that this 'Yevon' was like a god to them, perhaps almost like Hyne, except no one prayed at the foot of any statues of him, if there were in fact any. Wakka soon stopped to get up and both Tidus and Irvine followed behind him. The group gathered together again and began heading up the stairs. Both Tidus and Irvine lingered at the back of the group.

As they reached the top of the stairs, they entered another room. A scantily clad woman escorted by a very tall and muscular man stood in Yuna's way. "Well, well, what have we got here?" the woman stared daggers at Yuna and the group, almost with utter disgust. "Quite a large group," The woman scorned Yuna. "Do you really need all those Guardians?" she laughed, "I only need one."

"These are not just my Guardians," Yuna countered with a very defensive tone, "they are my friends, too, and I trust them." The woman shook her head and exited the room with her Guardian. The tension could be felt by everyone; Yuna defended each and every one of her Guardians and Irvine believed everything she said. Shortly after the altercation, Yuna and her Guardians continued onto the platform in front of them. Kimahri turned around and shoved both Tidus and Irvine off with his arm.

"Hey, what's the big deal?" Tidus stood back, with Irvine at his side clearly confused.

"Only Guardians can enter the Cloister of Trials," Lulu answered. "And you two, are not Guardians." Yuna had an apologetic look on her face as the platform made its descent to the bottom floor and returned.

Before Irvine and Tidus could turn around, the scantily clad woman had come back with her Guardian. Using one arm for each of them, the woman's Guardian tossed Tidus and Irvine over his shoulders and dropped them down onto the platform. The woman snickered as the platform lowered, and Irvine knew he and Tidus were going to be in some serious trouble.

Once the platform stopped on the bottom floor, they found themselves inside the Cloister of Trials. Even from here the hymn could be heard, more clearly than before. There was no sight of Yuna or the others and neither Tidus nor Irvine had ever been in a 'Cloister of Trials'; they had no idea what was going on, or what to do.

"So… uh…" Irvine tried to make conversation, "where are you from?" Although he knew it was a pointless question, it was a conversation starter at least.

Tidus turned to Irvine and answered, "Well, this might sound crazy, but I'm from Zanarkand." The name didn't seem familiar at all to Irvine. "I'm hoping I'll be getting back home soon," Tidus began to walk while Irvine followed. "So, where are you from?" Tidus asked, as they continued following the path and trying to make sense of everything.

"Well, this is probably going to sound crazier than your answer, but…" Irvine began, "I think I came from a completely different world…" Tidus stopped and looked at Irvine. _A completely different world? _"None of this stuff is familiar to me. If what I think happened really did happen in the past, than I am definitely in a different world completely."

Tidus could relate this subject, but at least he knew one part of Spira: Zanarkand. "How did you get here then?" Tidus asked curiously. He thought that maybe Irvine had come from Zanarkand, too, but his memory was just fuzzy from the toxin. "Do you remember anything at all? " Tidus wondered if they might have even known each other before getting too close to Sin's toxin. It seemed like a farfetched idea, but anything seemed possible at this point.

Irvine thought deeply as they wandered the corridors of the Cloister of Trials, continuing to solve the puzzles and move forward. His memory slowly caught up to him in waves. They felt surreal at times, but tangible in a paradoxical way. Irvine stopped and concentrated on his thoughts.

"Okay, well, as far back as I can remember…" Irvine started; there was a lot to unload onto Tidus. As Irvine told the story, they made their way through the Cloister of Trials. "My friends and I were on a mission to destroy the Sorceress Threat. When I first joined the group, I never thought this would happen though…" He explained how he became a part of the group in the first place, and all the things that followed. "…So we had to save Rinoa from Sorceress Adel and at the same time, destroy Adel, who was inside Lunatic Pandora. We were successful, but after the battle, a future Sorceress, Ultimecia, had cast a powerful spell: Time Compression," Irvine explained it as best he could.

"It was very confusing, but we managed to survive. It was such a strange feeling, but our bond was strong enough for all of us to stay together. We finally made our way to a point in time where we would encounter Ultimecia's Castle. We had definitely been thrown forward through time, where the world was almost desolate. We worked our way through the castle and finally came upon Ultimecia's room, where she sat upon her throne. The Time Compression had set us quite a few years into the future in a matter of seconds."

Irvine paused for a moment and thought of something, then continued while Tidus listened, "It was a long hard battle, we fought as hard as we could, but…" his voice quivered slightly as he continued, "it wasn't enough. Once she junctioned herself unto Griever, she summoned a spell… Apocalypse… The battle had gone on for what seemed like years, and that last spell she cast was just too strong for all of us." Irvine flinched, "Her ultimate goal was to cast the Time Compression spell… and when we failed to defeat her, the spell was cast and we became tangled in the strings and waves of time."

"Well? What happened next?" Tidus had never heard of anything like this before. He wasn't even sure if he could believe Irvine's story as it seemed all too unreal. The tone in Irvine's voice as he told his story insisted it was true. During the pause, the hymn could be heard even louder, indicating that they must be getting closer to the end. "Go on!" Tidus urged.

Irvine nodded and continued, "I just thought of something crazy. Maybe I'm not from another world. Maybe I am from this very world, thousands of years ahead of my time. Time Compression couldn't have sent us to another world. This has to be the world I'm from. It only takes seconds of Time Compression to be sent thousands of years into the future." Irvine suddenly felt a hint of relief and hope, "It has to be! And that means Selphie, Zell, Rinoa, Squall and Quistis are all here too." Irvine was determined, he believed firmly in his reasoning. "The Time Compression must have just worn off or something, I mean, we all have to be here somewhere, right?" Irvine felt his heart beat faster. It was a hell of a story, and a lot to take in.

For all of this information to rush into Irvine's mind was almost confusing to him. There was definitely an emptiness somewhere, but at the same time a void that was full - as if he had unlocked a vault in his mind.

"That's a lot to take in…" Tidus replied, trying his best to look as though he truly believed Irvine's story. "I think this is end of the Cloister of Trials?" Tidus inserted the last Sphere into the hole, hoping that it was the last puzzle. As they entered the next room, everyone looked their way in disbelief. Every one of them stared daggers of disapproval and disbelief at the two foreign men.

"What are you two doing down here!" Wakka demanded. He was not pleased at all. Irvine looked at the room he was now in; he could hear the hymn even louder than before. It was calming, tranquil even ethereal. Irvine's whole body felt relaxed and refreshed. There was something hypnotic about the constant hymn.

"It was that woman and her Guardian!" Tidus blurted out, defending himself and Irvine to Wakka and the others.

Moments later, Yuna emerged from the finely decorated door behind Kimahri. She looked exhausted which lead Irvine to wonder just what happened behind those doors. None of her 'Guardians' were with her. _I thought these so called 'Guardians' were supposed to protect her?_ Irvine was clearly confused and desperately wanted to know just what the hell was going on, but this wasn't an appropriate time to be interrogating.


	3. SS Winno to Luca

**Heroes Of Spira**

**Chapter Two: S.S. Winno to Luca**

Once outside the temple, Irvine and Tidus were both scolded again by Lulu, "If you ever attempt such foolishness again, we will not tolerate it lightly." Just her presence jarred the two boys; they still had no idea what just happened, and why it was so terrible that they ended up in the Cloister of Trials anyway. Nothing was out of place, except for their presence at the end.

"So," Irvine broke the silent tension, "where do we go from here?" His curiosity for this world was overflowing. Just how long would it be until he would be reunited with his friends, even just one of them. Feeling alienated from everything and everyone, it reminded him of his first visit to Esthar. The thought of never returning home distraught Irvine as he began to think about the places and people he was missing.

"We're headed off to Luca," Wakka replied. "That's where the Blitzball tournament is being held, ya!" The afternoon sun had now reached its peak in the sky. _Blitzball? _Irvine had never heard of such a thing.

"What's Blitzball?" Irvine asked as he tilted his head to one side. Both Wakka and Tidus stared at Irvine in complete shock and disbelief.

"You're kidding, ya?" Wakka stopped in his track, completely caught off guard. "Where have you been, kid? Blitzball is only Spira's favourite sport! Everyone knows what Blitzball is!" Wakka shook his head and added, "Sin's toxin really did get you… Pretty bad too, ya?"

Irvine shrugged. His mind began to dish out handfuls of questions. _What if I really am from this world, and all of my supposed memories are made up? It couldn't possibly be true though… Could it? Selphie…_

The group continued down the huge set of stone stairs. There was an awkward silence lingering in the air. Irvine placed his hand on Exeter and tried to remember everything. He tried to pull out every memory possible to counter the idea that he would no longer see any of his friends again. All he could come up with was what he already knew, and that there was a strange void inside of him. He knew it was once filled with something, but he failed to remember what it was.

Finally at the foot of the stairs was a path continuing through the forest Irvine had woken up in not too long ago. Along the path, they encountered what Irvine thought looked eerily similar to an Ochu. This one, however, was much bigger than he remembered them being. _Another memory, this is good! _He thought to himself.

"Watch out!" Tidus yelled as the giant monster moved towards them. It was an unavoidable battle; the monster was so large that it took up the entire path between the group and their destination.

Being unable to help, Irvine lingered behind the group, focusing on evading any attacks dished out by the monster. It's many tentacle-like arms stopped anyone in the group from getting in on the side or even from behind the monster - they were limited to just the area before the Ochu.

Irvine watched each member of the group to study their battle style. The monster flailed forward and managed to tackle Wakka, who failed to evade the attack. Yuna quickly stepped up to cast a Cure spell on him. Kimahri and Tidus took turns lashing out on the monster - Kimahri with a lancet and Tidus with a sword - evading some attacks while being pummelled by others. Both Wakka and Lulu were behind the other three, attacking from a distance.

With Wakka's experience playing Blitzball, he was able to throw the ball in such a way that most times it would hit the Ochu and rebound back into his hands. Lulu stood beside him conjuring up fire spells - she had learned from Kimahri who was able to get close enough to the monster to find its weakness, but at the cost of being struck down. Again, Yuna stepped up to cast another Cure spell.

As the battle carried on, Irvine could sense the Ochu's rage building. Without warning, the monster pushed forward and used all tentacles to knock everyone down, including Irvine. Yuna, now pushed to the back with Irvine, sat on the ground with exhaustion. Irvine could feel the pain in his shoulder flare up from the attack.

Swiftly, Kimahri and Tidus jumped up to their feet and continued attacking, even though they, too, were exhausted. Lulu continued to conjure up fire spells, and Wakka was able to toss his Blitzball twice before he had to crouch down due to exhaustion.

Eventually, Lulu would cast the last fire spell to bring the Ochu to its demise. Yuna began using healing spells on everyone in the group as the remains of the Ochu fragmented into the air and disappeared.

"That was one hell of a battle…" Irvine looked around the forest, hoping he wouldn't see any more Ochu's. The forest was clear and the pathway leading out was open and free of monsters. Once everyone had collected themselves, they continued forward out of the forest and into the village of Kilika.

As Irvine looked around, he noticed that the small village on the water looked as though it had been through a devastating storm. Several men were carrying large planks of wood around, while others had hammers and nails, trying to repair some of the damage. The huts, what was left of them, looked dismal. In the wake of this storm, an intensely sombre feeling lingered within this village.

"What happened here?" Irvine asked curiously. The group fell deathly silent for a moment. Both Yuna and Wakka looked towards the planks below their feet. Kimahri crossed his arms and shook his head.

"It was Sin," Lulu answered as if Irvine should have known the answer. _Again with this Sin… I don't understand? Whatever it is, it's definitely very powerful._ Irvine's question had briefly reopened the emotional wounds of those around him.

Feeling like a child being scolded, Irvine decided he wasn't going to ask any more questions. He tilted his hat, as if to show respect for what had happened to the village and its people. Once the group collected their thoughts, they made their way through the pieces of debris left in Sin's wake. Eventually they came upon a decent sized boat; it looked large enough to carry a number of people comfortably.

Before boarding, Irvine looked for a name on the boat. His eyes soon caught the name _S.S. Winnno_. This must be the boat that's taking everyone to Luca, for the Blitzball tournament. It suddenly hit Irvine - Wakka's team was about to have to share a boat with the Luca Goers.

Lingering again at the rear of the group, Irvine decided to split away briefly to collect his thoughts. As the large group of people went one way, Irvine went the other. "Need… food… ugh…" Irvine heard a familiar voice moan, a voice that immediately struck a memory. As he walked a little up deck, he found a familiar looking boy mopping away at the deck. At first Irvine didn't believe what he was seeing, but as he got closer, he knew who it was. "I need hot dogs!" the blonde boy yelled.

Irvine knew it! It was Zell! The blonde boy sighed and looked up at the sky while wiping his forehead of sweat. He then looked over towards Irvine and immediately dropped the mop in disbelief. "IRVINE!"

"ZELL!" Irvine hollered back opening his arms towards the sky in relief. They walked towards each other and heartily shook hands, accepted one to the other.

"Thank Hyne I finally ran into someone I _know_ I know. You won't _believe_ what I've been through!" Zell hastily said. "What the _hell _is going on? What the hell _happened_ to all of us?" He was bursting with energy as he bounced back and forth between his feet and throwing in the occasional air punch.

"I have no idea what's going on," Irvine replied. He finally felt an honest sense of relief since waking up in the forest earlier.

"Is this like a dream or something?" Zell questioned aggressively, "This is a really shitty dream - it's all too real to be a dream. What the hell?" He continued to buzz about. Irvine reached out both of his arms and planted them firmly on Zell's shoulders.

"You need to calm down first," Irvine held his friend still, trying to get him to slow down and breathe. "Something terrible happened," his voice fell slightly, "after that last battle… Do you remember anything?"

Zell's body loosened completely at the thought; it was something he had been questioning himself for weeks. _Just what _did_ happen to all of us? _Zell's breathing returned to a relatively normal pace and Irvine removed his hands - the anchors holding down the very excitable boy. "I have all of these jumbled up memories, but I keep getting told by the ship's crew that I have a bad case of Sin's toxic poisoning…" Zell shrugged, but he knew now that his memories couldn't be made up, not if he and Irvine both shared the same memories.

"I've been told the same," Irvine shook his head. "Well, I'll tell you what I know so far…" Irvine leaned back against a wooden pillar. "I woke up earlier today, in the morning… I found a group of people who were willing to let me tag along for a while - one female in particular was very empathetic to my situation. The others didn't seem all that wild about it though -"

"What?" Zell interrupted Irvine as he threw himself into dialogue, "You woke up _today_? What the hell? I've been here for _weeks_!" Zell threw a few more punches into the air and tried to shake off the sudden onset of energy again.

"Wait, _what_?" Irvine looked up immediately in shock, "_Weeks_?You've been here for _weeks_?"

"Yeah," Zell started, "the captain of this boat said he and his crew found me lifelessly floating in the water. It was a miracle for them to revive me… But it's been hell since then." Zell's body began to buzz again as he started bouncing back and forth again on his feet. The confused cowboy in front of him firmly planted his arms again on Zell's shoulders. The energetic boy breathed heavily in and out before continuing, "Okay… Well, I've been travelling back and forth between Kilika and Luca on this boat, working and trying to sort out the memories… But now that you're here, too, I _know_ I'm not crazy."

"Well, if you're here and I'm here…" Irvine held some hope in his voice, "do you think that the rest of us are here too?" He thought of Selphie and the others.

"I dunno man…" Zell kicked his shoes against the deck. "Whatever, I'm sure we'll find them: Quistis, Rinoa, Selphie and Squall. They have to be here somewhere." Irvine let out a sigh of relief as he heard the names being listed off by his friend. Just hearing their names coming from Zell made him believe his memories even more.

They both relaxed enough to be able to take in each others company without all the questions and chaos within their heads. Zell leaned against the pillar next to Irvine, in the shade. The sun was making its descent in the sky as the day carried on.

"Oh!" Zell suddenly perked up, buzzing with energy again, "Have you heard of Blitzball? It's gotta be the coolest sport I've ever seen! Earlier today on the boat, this amazing team of Blitzball players gave me some pointers on my technique." Zell smirked, again bouncing back and forth on his toes. "They're the famous team from Luca - where this ship is headed to. Whenever we dock at Luca, I always go to the stadium to check if there's practice or a game going on."

Irvine remembered the team from the temple. First impressions really stick, and the Luca Goers left an arrogant vibe with Irvine. "The Luca Losers, you mean?" Irvine laughed, remembering what Wakka had said back in front of the temple.

"Luca Goers!" Zell corrected him. "What, you've already met them or something?"

"We had the unfortunate luck of bumping into them in Kilika," Irvine remembered the pain in his shoulder and automatically rolled it again to loosen the muscles.

"Tch, you make them sound like jerks," Zell defended. Irvine simply rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Anyway, if you like Blitzball, you should meet Wakka!" Irvine said excitedly. "He's the captain of another team. I didn't catch the name of his team though…"

"Wakka? That name sounds familiar…" Zell pondered, trying to remember where he had heard the name before. Irvine lead the way to the other side of the boat where Yuna was talking to the team members of the Luca Goers. Tidus seemed to be arguing with them.

"Hey Wakka!" Irvine yelled over the crowd for Wakka's attention. "There's someone you should meet - a friend of mine." Zell followed Irvine over to a tall man holding a Blitzball, who was apparently trying not to get caught up in the crowd of players.

Wakka grinned as they got closer; he could just imagine this blond boy probably came from the 'Zanarkan Abes' like Tidus. His clothing resembled Tidus' enough for Wakka's imagination to run away with. "You're Wakka, the captain of the Besaid Aurochs, right?" Zell put his hand out and shook hands with the Blitzball captain.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Wakka questioned, sizing up this blond boy who seemed to know who he was. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the Zanarkand Abes, ya?" Both Zell and Irvine looked at him with confused looks. Irvine figured it was another Blitzball team, while Zell _knew_ there was no such team.

"There's no team from Zanarkand…" Zell replied.

"This is my friend Zell - he's from _my world_," Irvine interrupted, "and he's been here for weeks. Apparently he seems to know about Blitzball, too."

"You play Blitz, kid?" Wakka asked as he took a good look at Zell. Being the captain of a Blitzball team, he knew how to spot talent, even potential talent.

"Well, uh…" Zell stuttered. "I've watched a lot of games and I've practiced a bit?" He ended his last statement almost as if he was questioning himself.

"That's a great start, ya!" Wakka replied, impressed. "It's a great game to get in on. If you're serious about playing, maybe you should come practice with the Aurochs sometime, ya? I mean, after we win the tournament, haha!"

"Aww yeeeahh!" Zell cheered excitedly. He had never played a game of Blitzball before, but after watching his first game he was enthralled with the sport. He stayed on the S.S. Winno for as long as he did because it was the only boat that always went back to Luca during pre-tournament games. The captain was a huge fan of Blitzball and so conducted his departures and arrivals around certain games - specifically when the Luca Goers were playing.

Wakka grinned widely as Zell buzzed with energy, with a hint of hope that maybe he could play an actual Blitzball game someday. But then a thought tugged in the back of his mind, reminding him that he's not from this world. Playing Blitzball wasn't a priority; finding his friends, if even possible, was the main focus.

Soon, the crowd around Yuna dispersed and Irvine was able to introduce Zell to this new group. "Heya!" Irvine hollered, signalling his new friends to come close. "I found one! I found a friend!" He introduced Zell to Yuna, Lulu and Tidus. Kimahri seemed to be somewhere else at the time.

"Woah, hey!" Tidus eagerly leaned forward to shake Zell's hand. The two blond boys started at each other for a moment. Zell felt awkward while Tidus was curious if he had known Zell from before; the way he was dressed reminded him a lot about the Zanarkand Abes. "Do you play Blitz?" A spark of light lit up his eyes.

"Nah, ah… no," Zell shook his head. Tidus exhaled with dismay and shrugged his shoulders.

"He's from _my_ world, guys," Irvine pointed out. "He's a bit of a handful, but I can keep an eye on him," a smirk crept across Irvine's face as he remembered how jovial and how rowdy Zell could be. His temper was a bit of concern, but Irvine knew how to handle his friend's volatile emotions.

As the afternoon carried on, so did the boat ride. The boat was due to arrive just before noon the next day, and so Irvine and Zell both had time to take in each others company. After all of the introductions were set aside, the two of them retreated to a relatively quiet spot on the boat.

Irvine leaned on the railing and stared out to the ocean and thought for a moment. The ocean was calm but with a sense of destruction just below the surface. He sighed and turned to face his friend Zell.

"So…" Zell began speaking in a low tune, "thinking about everyone?" Irvine nodded. "Well, if we're both here than everyone else must be here too, right?" Zell was looking for a tangible answer; he needed to know that this wasn't just some dream, or rather a nightmare.

"I don't know…" Irvine paused for a few silent seconds. "I was thinking… I mean, I don't know how this whole Time Compression thing works, but so far I woke up today and you woke up weeks ago…" Zell clenched his fist as he was beginning to understand where Irvine was going. "Who knows when the others might have woken up, or if they're still trapped in the spell?" Irvine stared back out towards the setting sun on the horizon.

Both of them fell silent as the evening sun descended. Zell looked back at the few weeks he had been here in Spira. In the beginning he was sure that something was wrong, but as the days passed, it grew more difficult for him to hold onto the distant memories. Yet there was a small pocket, a void in his mind that wasn't there before, full of memories of the past. As soon as he saw Irvine, it was like the floodgates had been unleashed.

Irvine, deep in thought, gently placed his hand on Exeter, flinching at the reality that his gun had been rendered useless. Zell saw him flinch and looked towards Irvine's holster, where a badly beaten up gun rested. "Is that-"

"Exeter," Irvine interrupted, looking down at his gun.

"Aww damn," Zell's shoulders sank as he felt helpless. "At least I got-"

"Your fists," Irvine interrupted again. "I know she's broken, but I'll never let her go." Just as he said those words, Selphie came to mind, as if this gun was just as important to him. _Who am I without my gun? Who am I without Selphie? Now I sound like Squall… Maybe this is how he's felt the whole time… So hopeless, so helpless… _"You have your fists and we both have our magic, right?"

"Oh yeah," Zell perked up again, "We have our Guardian Forces!" Irvine hadn't even thought of his Guardian Forces until now. Suddenly he was in a panic, tracing past his mind, digging deeper to find no traces left of even a single Guardian Force.

"I… I don't have my Guardian Forces?" Irvine said aloud in disbelief. A look of concern fell upon Zell's face as he began to focus his energy and trace back to any remnants of his protectors. There wasn't a single trace, but he knew that the void he felt upon waking up must have been where his Guardian Forces were kept.

"Leviathan?" Zell yelled out furiously; he was no longer one with Ifrit, Leviathan or Bahamut. He no longer possessed their great abilities, only a small range of spells. "There's no way! This can't be!" now agitated, Zell began throwing punches in the air with such rage that Irvine had to calm him down again.

"Hey, hey!" Irvine tried to settle his friend down, "Calm down, will ya?" _Why are we losing everything? _Irvine questioned himself. "There's still magic, Zell. At least we're capable of holding on to that much…" Zell huffed heavily and proceeded to punch the deck before collapsing back against the rail. Irvine joined him, sitting on the deck, wallowing in the disbelief that their Guardian Forces were gone.

"That explains that strange feeling," Zell quivered, "when I woke up, there was this weird void… I could feel it, but I didn't know what it was, and with all the confusion, I held on to whatever was left in that void."

"Memory," Irvine tapped his friends head, "The Guardian Forces take up a huge part of us, and when we become one with them, we give up a part of ourselves to keep them… The first thing that goes is memory…" Irvine readjusted his hat before continuing, "We must have known, unconsciously, that keeping the Guardian Forces would erode our memory, completely devouring us through Time Compression… We must have known that the first thing to let go of would be our Guardian Forces. If we kept the eternal bonded memories between us, we must have known it would bring us together again… Like the Orphanage…"

They both fell silent for what felt like an eternity. The setting sun painted pastel colours across the sky and bedazzled the calm surface of the ocean. The air became cooler as the gentle sea breeze caressed the boat.

"Hey you two," a soft voice suddenly broke the deep silence between Irvine and Zell. They both looked up to find Yuna staring at them worriedly. "You don't look so well… seas sickness?" Yuna leaned down to their height where they sat on the deck.

"Just thinking of home," Irvine sighed. Yuna had an empathetic look on her face, thinking of Tidus and his situation.

"Well, it's getting late," she pointed out at the night sky falling upon them, "you two should probably call it a night and get some rest for tomorrow." The two boys looked at her and nodded in agreement. Zell bounced back up to his feet, while Irvine took a moment to collect himself. "I'll show you where you'll be sleeping," Yuna smiled.

"It's okay," Zell spoke up, "there's an extra bunk in the crew's room; he can bunk with me." Irvine rolled his eyes at such a juvenile thought. "Don't worry man, I don't snore," Zell laughed, as did Yuna at his comment.

"Okay, don't stay up too late!" Yuna smiled and retreated below deck.

"I guess we call it a day," Irvine shrugged. He followed Zell to the crew room where a few men had already fallen asleep. There were two empty top bunks next to each other, so they each took one and continued talking until they drifted off to sleep.


End file.
